4.16.2009

Poem

Song for a Fifth Child
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.


I stumbled across this poem this morning. I was reading and reading and then got to the last line and the tears turned on like a faucet.
For the past two afternoons, Camp has taken a nap on my chest. We go downstairs and lay on the couch and he falls asleep. Normally we're out running errands during that time and he'll sleep in the car.
I told Adam about it and he asked what I did while Camp slept. All I do is lay there and smell my sweet baby and kiss his sweet fuzzy head. It would be so easy to put him in his crib and use his naptime for cleaning or getting dinner ready. But I know the moments of him just falling asleep in my arms won't last for long. He's already changed so much in almost seven months. He changes everyday!

So here's to putting the cleaning and cooking on hold (for just a bit!) and taking the time to really enjoy our sweet little munchkins!


7 comments:

Beth Madigan said...

wow- tear jerker!!!!!

Amy from BBC said...

Aww Lane! Why do you have to make me cry at work?! I feel the exact same way. I love to just hold Ryan and soak in his smell.

Mama Byrd said...

Tears were already streaming BEFORE I got to the last line. My baby is crying over her baby growing up!

Lollie said...

the best sleep you ever have is sleeping next to your sweet baby. Camp is a lucky little boy to have a wonderful mommy who cherishes the special times of each day. Thank you for the special mommy you are.

Meredith said...

awww, so sweet. it's so true. i just don't know what i'm going to do now that they're all over 3. i'm babying my littlest one more than i should and just to squeeze in some more of those times. sometimes i skip her nap just so she'll fall asleep in my arms at 4:30. :) thanks for sharing.

Kaitlin said...

You just turned on my tears at work in the middle of the pep-rally at school. And Chandler is doing great by the way!

Lunch date ASAP. I need to see that growing beautiful baby

brittany said...

well put. definitely have to cherish those sweet moments... they do go by too fast.